Paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic records through Marine Isotope Stage 19 at the Chiba composite section, central Japan: A key reference for the EarlyeMiddle Pleistocene Subseries boundary

Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 19 is an important analogue for the present interglacial because of its similar orbital configuration, especially the phasing of the obliquity maximum to precession minimum. However, sedimentary records suitable for capturing both terrestrial and marine environmental changes are limited, and thus the climatic forcing mechanisms for MIS 19 are still largely unknown. The Chiba composite section, east-central Japanese archipelago, is a continuous and expanded marine sedimentary succession well suited to capture terrestrial and marine environmental changes through MIS 19. In this study, a detailed oxygen isotope chronology is established from late MIS 20 to early MIS 18, supported by a U-Pb zircon age and the presence of the Matuyama–Brunhes boundary. New pollen, marine microfossil, and planktonic foraminiferal δ18O and Mg/Ca paleotemperature records reveal the complex interplay of climatic influences. Our pollen data suggest that the duration of full interglacial conditions during MIS 19 extends from 785.0 to 775.1 ka (9.9 kyr), which offers an important natural baseline in predicting the duration of the present interglacial. A Younger Dryas-type cooling event is present during Termination IX, suggesting that such events are linked to this orbital configuration. Millennial- to multi-millennial-scale variations in our δ18O and Mg/Ca records imply that the Subarctic Front fluctuated in the northwestern Pacific Ocean during late MIS 19, probably in response to East Asian winter monsoon variability. The climatic setting at this time appears to be related to less severe summer insolation minima at 65˚N and/or high winter insolation at 50˚N. Our records do not support a recently hypothesized direct coupling between variations in the geomagnetic field intensity and global/regional climate change. Our highly resolved paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic records, coupled with a well-defined Matuyama–Brunhes boundary (772.9 ka; duration 1.9 kyr), establish the Chiba composite section as an exceptional climatic and chronological reference section for the Early–Middle Pleistocene boundary.ArticleQuaternary Science Reviews 191: 406-430(2018)journal articl

BioHackathon series in 2011 and 2012: penetration of ontology and linked data in life science domains

The application of semantic technologies to the integration of biological data and the interoperability of bioinformatics analysis and visualization tools has been the common theme of a series of annual BioHackathons hosted in Japan for the past five years. Here we provide a review of the activities and outcomes from the BioHackathons held in 2011 in Kyoto and 2012 in Toyama. In order to efficiently implement semantic technologies in the life sciences, participants formed various sub-groups and worked on the following topics: Resource Description Framework (RDF) models for specific domains, text mining of the literature, ontology development, essential metadata for biological databases, platforms to enable efficient Semantic Web technology development and interoperability, and the development of applications for Semantic Web data. In this review, we briefly introduce the themes covered by these sub-groups. The observations made, conclusions drawn, and software development projects that emerged from these activities are discussed

Integrated Manipulation: Context-aware Manipulation of 2D Diagrams

Diagram manipulation in conventional CAD systems requires frequent mode switching and explicit placement of the pivot for rotation and scaling. In order to simplify this process, we propose an interaction technique called integrated manipulation, where the user can move, rotate, and scale without mode switching. In addition, the pivot for rotation and scaling automatically snaps to a contact point during moving operation. We performed a user study is performed using our prototype system and a commercial CAD system. The results showed that users can perform a diagram manipulation task much more rapidly using our technique. KEYWORDS: Drawing editors, CAD, direct manipulation, interaction techniques. INTRODUCTION Conventional drawing editors and CAD systems have a number of editing commands and modes. The user has to combine them appropriately to construct a precise diagram [2]. For example, if the user wants to construct a figure 3f starting from figure 3a, he must switch back and fo..